2011 Grammys: Arcade Fire Wins Album of Year for "The Suburbs"

Above: Arcade Fire performs "Ready to Start" at Madison Square Garden last December.

The celebration of music and spectacle know as the 2011 Grammys had a little bit of everything, from bizarre costumes (see: Lady Gaga egg; Cee Lo Green chicken/peacock outfit) to heartfelt performances. You'll find the full list of 2010 Grammy winners and nominees here, including the nearly 100 awards that weren't televised.

The evening's top prize, Album of the Year, went to the Canadian indie-rock band Arcade Fire for "The Suburbs."Although a favorite of both critics and music fans, the band's third album had lost out in the two other Grammys it had been nominated for this year, and for the Album of the Year it was facing a number of popular Grammy-winning favorites: Eminem, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, and country band Lady Antebellum (a multiple winner on the night).

Arcade Fire had just performed "Month of May"and was waiting under the stage for the announcement, and was quite surprised when "The Suburbs"was named for the top prize. And then it went on to play a second song from the album, "Ready to Start,"to finish the show. (That had nothing to do with them winning; it had been agreed to beforehand that the band would play a second tune to wrap up the show, no matter who won the night's final award.)

As usual for the Grammys, youth and current trends were served, with nominations and wins for—and performances by—acts like Justin Bieber, Katy Perry,  Enimem, and the ever-bizarre Lady Gaga. But the performances also featured a nod to the older generation influencers: Bob Dylan performed "Maggie's Farm" with two younger, Americana bands, Mumford & Sons and the Avett Brothers.

Lady Antebellum's “Need You Now”won Record of the Year and Song of the Year, while jazz singer and upright bass player Esperanza Spalding won the new artist, beating out the megastars Justin Bieber and Drake and indie acts Florence and the Machine and Mumford and Sons.

One artist who made an impression Sunday night was singer/songwriter/producer Skylar Grey, who co-wrote Eminem's "Love the Way You Lie"(and received a Song of the Year nomination for it) and performed on Eminem and Dr. Dre's rendition of "I Need a Doctor"on the Grammy telecast. Skylar Grey, whose real name is Holly Brook Hafermann, is a Wisconsin native who has one solo album out under the name Holly Brook.

She has a website, skylargreymusic.com, that only has a few photos and the message "Coming Soon," but she's active on Twitter (@SkylarGrey), where her follower count has gone from 6,000 to over 10,000 in the last few days. There's also an unofficial fan site, skylargreynews.com, which has news, videos, and tweets, among other information.

More on the 2011 Grammys in the next day or so...

2011 Grammy Weekend is On Now - Watch Pre-Telecast Awards & More Live Online

The official 2011 Grammys telecast isn't until Sunday night, but the weekend full of events started Friday night. The MusiCares Person of the Year award was presented then, and the festivities continue on Saturday and Sunday and you can watch live online at www.grammy.com/live. You can also watch live online at www.youtube.com/thegrammys. You can also follow Grammy news before, during, and after the ceremonies (including photos) at the official Grammy Twitter page, www.twitter.com/thegrammys.

The pre-telecast awards, which includes the handing out of Grammys in 98 categories, starts at 4 p.m. Eastern and runs for more than two hours. Bobby McFerrin and Esperanza Spalding will host the pre-telecast awards, which will have performances by nominees ranging from Buddy Guy to Cyndi Lauper, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, and Mavis Staples. (See the Grammy press release for details on hosts, performers, and more.)

The 2011 Grammys Awards telecast will be shown only on CBS TV at 8 p.m. Eastern. It not be shown online, though the Academy will have something called "Dual Screen Experience" (which I'm guess means you'll see backstage and other live content online in addition to what's shown on TV.)

Here's the Grammys online schedule (all times are Eastern):

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 12
12:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. - Grammy Moments
5:30 p.m. - 10:00 p.m. - Special Merit Awards
10:00 p.m. - 12:00 a.m. - Pre-Grammy Gala

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 13
12:00 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. - Grammy Moments
3:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Red Carpet
4:00 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. - Pre-Telecast Ceremony
6:15 p.m. - 8:00 p.m. - Red Carpet
8:00 p.m - 11:30 p.m - Dual Screen Experience
11:30 p.m - 1:00 a.m. - Grammy Celebration

Free Album Streaming: New CDs from PJ Harvey, Adele, Nicole Atkins, Foo Fighters (Sort of), & More

Above: Foo Fighters performing "Rope," from their forthcoming album. You can preview live versions of what's said to be all the songs on the new album at the link at the bottom of this post.

Some much-anticipated new albums are up for free streaming, including Adele's follow-up to her acclaimed "19," the latest twist in the ever-changing musical journey of PJ Harvey, the sophomore album from New Jersey native Nicole Atkins, and the new work from Bright Eyes. And you can preview the new Foo Fighters album (sort of: a blog has put together videos of live versions of what it says are every song on the band's new album).

See the respective websites for a full listing of album previews being offered. The date that streaming ends is given, when known.

KCRW Album Preview: 
"Let England Shake" by PJ Harvey (streaming until March 8; release date: Feb. 15)
"21" by Adele (streaming until March 8; release date: Feb. 22)
"Bella" by Teddy Thompson (streaming until March 1; album out now)

NPR First Listen:
"The People's Key" by Bright Eyes (streaming until Feb. 15, its release date)

Spinner.com's Listening Party has albums including:
"Mondo Amore" by Nicole Atkins"Tao of the Dead" by ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead
"The Long Surrender" by Over the Rhine
... and three albums by legendary Nigerian singer, songwriter, and activist Fela Kuti

AOL Music Listening Party has album previews including: 
"Now That's What I Call Music! #37" by Various Artists
"Now That's What I Call Music! Modern Songbook" by Various Artists
"The Sing-Off: The Best of Season 2" by Various Artists
"The Music Inside - A Collaboration Dedicated to Waylon Jennings, Vol. I" by Various Artists

Music blog Consequence of Sound has put together videos of what it believes to be all the songs on the new, so-far-untitled Foo Fighters album, which comes out in April, in the order they'll appear. These videos were made at different times and places by different people, so the quality may vary widely.

Sasquatch Lineup & Schedule Announced - Wilco, Modest Mouse, Foo Fighters, Death from Above 1979, Death Cab for Cutie, More

The Sasquatch Festival in Washington State has announced its lineup for 2011—and the proceedings will go on for four days this year. Foo Fighters had already been announced, but now then entire schedule is out (which bands are on which days, anyway; no set times appear on the website).

(Speaking of the Foo Fighters, they have a clever website, www.foofighters.fm, to promote their upcoming album: it recreates the look of an old-fashioned analog radio tuner with controls you can use to "tune in" different "stations" with song samples and at least one interview clip.)

Sasquatch 2011 will take place on Memorial Day weekend, from May 27th to 30th, at the Gorge Ampitheater in George, Washington, near the Columbia River.

Highlights include:
* Friday, May 27th: Foo Fighters, Death from Above 1979, Against Me!, Rival Schools, Smith Westerns
* Saturday, May 28th: Death Cab for Cutie, Bright Eyes, Iron & Wine, Robyn, Wolf Parade
* Sunday, May 29th: Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, Flogging Molly, Cold War Kids, Ratatat, Yeasayer, Beach House, Tokyo Police Club, Sam Roberts Band, Basia Bulat
* Monday, May 30th: Wilco, The Decemberists, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Old 97's, MSTRKRFT, Chromeo, Guided by Voices, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, Deerhunter, Best Coast

See the full Sasquatch lineup here. Four-day all-inclusive Sasquatch tickets are on sale now; single-day tickets go on sale Feb. 14th. You can hear songs from various Sasquatch artists on the website. For the latest updates, see the Sasquatch Twitter feed.

Free Music Downloads & Streaming: Live Sets by The Wailin' Jennys, Adele, & More

It's no secret that I like female singer-songwriters and female-fronted bands, so I was happy to find live sets by a number of artists I admire. The downside is that only a couple run more than a half hour.

* The Wailin' Jennys - one-hour concert at McDougall United Church in Edmonton, Alberta, from CBC Radio 2 (listen online or download podcast). (The Wailin' Jennys have a new album, "Bright Morning Stars," coming out on Feb. 8th)

* Adele - the young British singer performs for Philadelphia's World Cafe, 31-minute set (listen online)

* Stars (featuring singer Amy Millan) - 10-minute live set in NPR offices, Washington (watch above, listen online, or download podcast)

* Joan Osborne - live set at WNYC's studios, New York - (listen online or download podcast). Osborne talked about her career and performed a few songs from her latest work, the song cycle "Love and Hate," which she played for the "American Songbook" series at Lincoln Center's Allen Room on Feb. 4th.

The Muffs Celebrate 20 Years Together

Sad Tomorrow

The Muffs | Myspace Music Videos

L.A. rock trio The Muffs last week celebrated the 20th anniversary of their first show together with—what else?—a couple of concerts. They came east to play two gigs last weekend, in Brooklyn and then at Maxwell's in Hoboken (which, sadly, I was unable to attend). On Feb. 5th they'll continue the anniversary celebration with a hometown show at The Satellite in L.A.

The Muffs have been making fun indie pop for two decades, and for most of that time that band has consisted of its current lineup of singer and guitarist Kim Shattuck, bassist Ronnie Barnett, and drummer Roy McDonald. They've put out a handful of albums over the years, but you may know them best for their version of "Kids in America," from the movie "Clueless." I've see The Muffs twice at Maxwell's in Hoboken, once when a CD of the show was being sold immediately after it was over, so I fortunately have a memento of that gig.

The Muffs last month re-released their album "Kaboodle," which according to the band's website includes part of their "Hamburger" album and also features singles, demos, B-sides, cover songs, and more, as well as some new tracks. You can order "Kaboodle" from The Muffs website here.

After all these years The Muffs still have bring their fun, goofy attitude to rock & roll, I'm glad to see they're still at (though I wish they'd play more live shows). Happy anniversary, and here's to many more.